Italian Ferrari and Maserati dealers facing hard setback

19 April 2012 11:22 No comments

Automotive association Federauto warns the Italian government they are destroying the domestic luxury sector, including brands like Ferrari and Maserati. In the beginning it was Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo who crititized the Monti government for actively charging the rich and their exotic possessions with a so called ‘superbollo’, a super tax. The state has also opened the hunt on tax evaders. As a consequence owners leave their cars inside the garage, afraid of being chased or bothered by the authorities and potential buyers stay home. Therefore showrooms of the luxury segment experience difficult times. Ferrari and Maserati traditionally sell the most cars, with Lamborghini and Pagani the least but now there are no exceptions in ‘il bel paese’.

On an international scale the brands are growing faster than ever as we wrote earlier on. In Italy though Ferrari sales in Q1 of this year plunged by -51.1% and Maserati even by -70%. No wonder this is an alarming situation and the association asks the government to change strategy. They take the aviation and nautical industry as an example, where financial compensations for customers already prevail. Ironically Pavan Bernacchi, head of Federauto concludes “Federauto estimates the state will miss around 105 million euro worth of taxes in this segment alone compared to 2011. We wonder why the government adopts these fiscal measures, while they actually encourage a further depression for the sector and the country in general.”